I never feel dumber than when I receive my ms back from my editor. Nevermind the fact that this time I went through specifically looking for all that she pointed out before. These are all the new things I got wrong this time around:
1) I overused the word look/looks/looking/looked. Sad thing is I think I did a search for this word before I sent it off so I need to open a thesaurus for this exhausted verb.
2) On occasion I began sentences with And or But, apparently these make weak sentences and my editor suggests just removing them.
3) She flagged many run-ons and comma splices and suggests to use periods or semi colons.
4) Many words were repeated close together. These are so hard to point out to yourself.
5) I need clearer sentence tags in instances where I have people talking of the same sex.
I wish I could see what someone else’s draft looks like after an editor return so I might feel better at all these corrections. But then again, that might depress me if I saw much cleaner versions. Part of me worries that if I keep making my editor work this much she’ll realize it’s not worth the time and money to help me or she’ll increase her charge since I make her work so much more.
Honestly though, the corrections were half the amount this time than the first of the series, so I guess I’m improving, but I really thought I’d done a good job this time…oh well, maybe by the fourth of the series I’ll impress her with my grammatical improvement.
laurenwaters 
Good comments, but I want to add “It depends.” My writing style is informal. I begin some sentences with And or But because that’s the way I talk and think. Those beginnings add a natural flow to the sentences. I want my writing to stay informal because of reader connection.
I agree, though, that in more formal writing I would choose other beginnings.
Wordle.net is a free tool to find overused words. I read about it on author/former agent Nathan Bransford’s site. You paste text into Wordle (any amount, from a paragraph to an entire book), wait about thirty seconds, and then a colorful Word Cloud will appear. The bigger the words, the more you use them.
I thought that it was more acceptable to start with an And or a But for stylistic reasons. I think I’ll go through carefully and listen to what I think fits best. Thanks for that reminder Holly and I’m going to go right now to see which words I used the most in this sequel.
No, you’re not the only one. That’s what a good editor is supposed to do. I’d rather have it marked up; then have it left to the mercy of some grammar nazi who rates it one star simply because it was “there” and not “their”.
Of course, there’s also an importance of learning what to heed and what to ignore from the editor (and no, it doesn’t mean doing it out of arrogance). Sometimes their methods might not match your writing style. For example, starting with And and But can be weak. But if it’s stream of conscious, like Holly Grant started, you might want to keep many of them. Sometimes formalities don’t cohere with certain authors (such as Bret Easton Ellis, who can write page long sentences or Hunter S. Thompson, who certainly played by his own rules).
But in some ways it seems to me that you got off “easy”. Some editors will tell you what they REALLY think about your book. While others will go ahead and suggest drastic cuts to your book. My editor did the former. Which I certainly respected her for it and did take away some ideas (such as perhaps making drastic cuts/changes to the first part of the story for pacing). But once again, I had to look at what she was suggesting, her tastes and preferences, and what I wanted.
Anyways, sounds like your book is almost ready to get out there. Best of luck.
It’s good to hear I’m not alone. You’re right. It’s a wonderful thing to get the most feedback from your editor. You want the page all marked up so that you have confidence that the editor was working hard to improve your work. And it’s up to you to go through each suggestion and decide what works for your style. Thanks for the good luck!
You’re definitely not the only one, Lauren. Every author I’ve heard talk about getting their ms back from an editor talks about how incredibly stupid they feel. It’s totally natural. Remember – your job as the writer is to tell the story with the best grammar you can, but mostly to tell the story. 🙂 I never felt distracted by grammar, caps, or exclamation points. So your editor is probably right, but it’s not like your writing was distracting.
I feel so sorry for you and my family members that had to read it pre-editor. Once I send you your copy you’ll probably think you’re reading a whole new book!
Just to prove the point, here’s Shannon Messenger’s latest blogpost (about copyedits)
http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/2011/10/10-things-ive-learned-from-copyedits.html
🙂
That made me feel SO much better! I’ve subscribed to her blog immediately. Thanks Bethany!
When I read the comments from your editor, it rung a bell about starting sentences with “And” and “But”. I do this a lot!
I am sure that every writer experiences that feeling when they hear back from their editors. But your finished manuscript is going to look fab! 🙂